Bill Maher called actor Jon Cryer “crazy woke” after he refused to pass judgment on women’s traditional dress standards in Muslim countries.
The comedian and host claimed liberal-leaning people had become “so tolerant that we tolerate intolerance,” during a recent episode of his Club Random podcast with the Two and a Half Men star.
Cryer recently made headlines after sharing his pessimism for the incoming Trump administration, branding it a “clown show already.”
Maher and Cryer began to disagree early on in the episode after discussing the effect of immigration issues on the Democratic Party and its contribution to the loss to Donald Trump and the GOP.
The pair then went on to discuss other examples of declining “Western standards” with Maher referencing a 60 Minutes report where a woman in a skirt was "screamed at" after walking through a Muslim neighborhood in London.
"We should agree that women should be able to wear what they want," Maher said. "If you don’t agree with that, you’re not a liberal to begin with…. Call me a crazy liberal but I think women should have freedom.”
Cryer agreed that women should be able to wear what they want but pointed out that there were many places around the world where women didn’t have the freedom to dress how they liked. "In many places, they used to get catcalled all the time," he said.
"Used to,” Maher shot back. “A lot of s*** used to happen but what’s going on now in the world? Would you really want to have your wife live in Gaza or any place… where she would have to cover up?"
Cryer was reluctant to pass judgment, saying: "I don’t live there, it’s not my culture."
"You won’t judge it?" Maher asked him. "I’m not going to judge it, no," Cryer replied.
"That’s crazy woke to me," Maher exclaimed, adding that liberals who accepted intolerance in the name of diversity had gone "off the rails."
"That’s where it went off the rails, when we became so tolerant that we tolerate intolerance," Maher said. "You would never allow something like that to happen in this country."
The pair went on to argue over "woke" politics within the Democratic Party and illegal immigration hurting Democrats in the election with Maher again blasting “stupid wokeness” as a reason for Trump’s re-election.
Cryer replied: "I think Americans hate inflation. They hate inflation, they hate riots, they hate Black women, and they hate trans people. They just spent hundreds of millions of dollars demonizing trans people and that’s disgusting.”
"Oh Jon," Maher said despairingly. "We shouldn’t talk politics."
Cryer, an outspoken Kamala Harris supporter, has been known to be vocal in his disapproval of the Republican party and the second Trump administration.
While outside of Los Angeles International Airport, Cryer was approached by a TMZ reporter who asked how he was feeling about the incoming president. “I won’t say I’m cautiously optimistic,” Cryer admitted.
“It’s a clown show already. You know, he did this once before; he was terrible at it the first time… It’s not gonna get better.”
